Dragged Away

Cheng Shuili noticed the muscles behind his neck were as taut as steel bars, and his knuckles, gripping the dagger, were deathly white.

This man was clearly also stressed to the absolute limit.

Seeing that Qi Yue had not encountered any accidents, the others followed him inside one after another.

Originally, Cheng Shuili and Wanyi were standing at the back, but at this moment, the woman in the red cotton-padded jacket craftily hid behind them.

Since someone had taken the initiative to bring up the rear, Cheng Shuili naturally had no objections.

"We need to cherish our time, so let's split into two groups."

Qi Yue lowered his voice, as if afraid of disturbing something, and pointed to the convenience store on the left: "Like this, Yang Yunsheng, you take five people to check the convenience store."

He then pointed to the rusty bathroom sign on the right: "The rest of you come with me..."

Before he could finish his sentence, or rather, Qi Yue's voice came to an abrupt halt!

A clump of viscous black liquid suddenly dripped from the ceiling above their heads, landing right on Qi Yue's shoulder.

The thing expanded instantly like a living creature, turning into countless fine threads that stuffed themselves into his open mouth!

"Hrrgh!"

Qi Yue's scream was muffled into a dull thud by the slime.

He struggled, swiping his dagger through the slime, but it was like cutting into glue; the blade was wrapped in the viscous substance and slowly dissolved, emitting a pungent, acrid smoke.

Before the group could react, the slime suddenly stretched its body, extending far into the pitch-black convenience store.

Immediately after, it contracted like a spring, and in an instant, it dragged Qi Yue into the convenience store!

Cheng Shuili was the first to react.

But it was already too late to save him. In the final moment, she used the Abyss Ring's skill on the slime!

【Insight activated】

【Name: Sound-Devouring Slime】

【Origin: Born from the unspeakable fears of humanity, it is a deformed product condensed from countless suppressed screams and suffocating whispers. They crave sound, longing to strangle the cries of all living things in their throats before dragging them into an eternal abyss of silence.】

【Weakness/Warning: It is deaf and blind, but it is not a picky eater; whether it is a human or a monster, as long as there is "sound," it will eat. This one is considered my colleague, currently serving in the dungeon. It is not a target for hunting; do not think about killing it. You are not yet capable of defeating him.】

Cheng Shuili: "??"

So now her ring has developed sentience, has it?

It can even refer to itself as "I"?

No wonder a warning appeared after the weakness. After reading the whole thing, Cheng Shuili only saw three words: "Don't provoke it."

Cheng Shuili: "..."

Cheng Shuili understood, but the remaining people did not.

The horrific scene before them had stunned everyone. When people are in a state of terror, their minds first go blank, and their first reaction upon regaining their senses is to scream!

"Ah—!"

The red-jacketed woman's scream tore through the deathly silent air like a sharp blade piercing Cheng Shuili's eardrums.

She whipped her head around to see that the girl, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, now had her eyes wide open and her mouth agape, fear distorting her entire face.

Cheng Shuili paused. At this moment, she was relying entirely on instinct to think. How do you save someone? What is the best method!?

Her body reached the answer a step faster than her brain.

She kicked the red-jacketed woman in the stomach, sending her flying out of the service area before the Sound-Devouring Slime could wrap its threads around her neck.

Such monsters must have an attack range.

When they were talking outside earlier, they were at a normal volume and weren't attacked.

This meant the Sound-Devouring Slime likely only attacked those who entered this area. So... as long as she threw this woman out, she could save her life!

Cheng Shuili's guess was correct. The Sound-Devouring Slime only attacked the red-jacketed woman, and it pursued her right to the dividing line between the service area and the highway. Once it confirmed it couldn't reach her, it returned to the ceiling to lie in wait.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

When all eyes were focused on Cheng Shuili, she raised a finger to her lips, pressing them until a hint of blood appeared.

In this instant, her normally delicate and harmless face was actually stained with a hint of bewitching charm.

Shh.

Whoever makes a sound, dies.

The twelve survivors tiptoed out of the service area, and only after stepping over that distinct boundary line did they all exhale in relief.

Perhaps the scene of Qi Yue being dragged away was too terrifying, as the shadow of it lingered in everyone's hearts. Even though they were safe now, no one dared to say a word.

Only the woman in the red jacket groaned on the ground, clutching her stomach.

She had felt like she was hit by a car, and before the pain could spread, she only felt the force of that kick. When she saw with her own eyes that the Sound-Devouring Slime had chased her to the boundary line, she realized that kick had saved her life.

Now that the pain was setting in, she rolled on the ground, groaning. For a moment, she even felt that it would have been better to be dragged away and eaten by that monster...

The moment this thought appeared, it made her shudder all over. It was better this way; it hurt, but at least she was still alive.

Cheng Shuili absolutely had no intention of retaliation; that kick was entirely born from the instinct to save someone.

She even sighed inwardly. In her past life, she had seen too many heroic deeds of self-sacrifice; almost every child in the Dragon Country had such a seed planted in their heart.

But this instinct was not a good thing in a place like this. It had to change.

The first person to speak was Yang Yunsheng. He was clearly also terrified, and it took several deep breaths for him to calm down before he looked at Cheng Shuili and asked, "How did you know that monster, that monster would attack her?"

He pointed at the woman still rolling on the ground as he asked, his brows knitted tightly together. Perhaps it was out of urgency, or perhaps fear, but regardless, he used an interrogative tone.

Cheng Shuili sneered and retorted, "Do you have no ears or no brain?"

"What?"

Yang Yunsheng hadn't expected her attitude to be so tough. Judging by this response, she must have observed something.

Realizing she wasn't a pushover, Yang Yunsheng's attitude did a 180-degree turn instantly. A smile appeared on his previously cold, rigid face, looking even somewhat fawning.

"I'm not very smart, could you explain it to me properly?"

The contrast was indeed stark.

Beside them, Wanyi, who had been silent all along, couldn't help but look surprised.

Cheng Shuili was unfazed; even if he hadn't asked, she intended to explain anyway.

The service area was too large, and if there were more of these mechanism-based monsters...

If these people all died, there would be no one left to scout the path for her.

"From the time we entered the service area until Qi Yue was dragged away by the monster, we were all standing extremely close to Qi Yue! But the monster only attacked Qi Yue, because among all of us, he was the only one who spoke and made a sound."

"So that's why you kicked Wang Lu out the moment you heard her scream?"

Yang Yunsheng asked, following Cheng Shuili's logic.

Wang Lu was the name of the woman in the red cotton-padded jacket.

This was self-evident, and Cheng Shuili didn't need to answer at all.